Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) opened the doors of a new plant in Singapore.
The Fridley, Minn.-based medical device giant built the facility to manufacture pacemakers and leads for its cardiac rhythm disease management business in Asia.
Medtronic has other plans for the plant as well, all of which bode well for the economy there. The facility, which the company dubbed "Medtronic Singapore Operations," will serve as its Asia headquarters, international headquarters and ASEAN headquarters. By November, Singapore will be the company’s distribution hub for the entire Asia-Pacific region; by the end of 2011, Medtronic will have spent more than $56 million on the operation and added 120 "skilled staff," according to a press release.
Earlier this week, Medtronic inaugurated its new Chinese headquarters in Shanghai. As of November, China generates about $1.2 billion in annualized sales (about the equivalent of its quarterly CRDM revenue) and is growing about 20 percent a year, according to the company.